Ashes To Ashes/Original/Issue 3
John and Ivan rode across the wasteland. Both were quiet for some time, focused on their mission. "Y'know, Ivan you're brother misses you," John said. "Vlad? That pussy is still alive? Figured he'd be gone by now." "So I guess you don't miss him?" "Nope, not at all." "Y'know I never did get the full story on what happened." "I don't like bringing up the past, John." "I don't either, but might as well pass the time." Ivan sighed. "Y'know of my old community?" "Yeah, got into a civil war right, basically destroyed it's self?" "Yes. I don't want to go into too much detail, but Vlad chose the other side over me, over his own god damn flesh in blood! And that's why I hate that fat sack of shit." "Damn. I suppose he had his reasons." "If being a fat fucking coward is one of them then that would be it," Ivan said with bitterness. "Anyway, we're almost there just past this hill." ---- Melissa stood outside Lilly's shop. Smoking a cigarette, waiting for Lilly to return from Ruby Hill. A man approched her, she instantly recognized him. "Fuck," she whispered to herself. "Ah, Melissa I finally found you. You got my money?" Melissa rolled her eyes and stomped out her cigarette, she looked the tall black man in the eye. "I'm trying Derek." Derek pulled a large knife from and placed it to her neck. "You're fucking trying!" "Look, I have a job now I work at this shop. I'll get your money as soon as I can, probably my next pay, just cut me a break here, Derek." "I've given you enough breaks. Now you better have my money in the next five seconds or I'm gonna slice your pretty little neck right here. "I'll get you the money as soon as I can you asshole just let me go!" Derek formed a smirk on his face. "You could always pay me other ways..." he said as he slipped his hand into her jeans. Melissa punched him in the groin. "Fuck you, asshole." Derek fell on his knees holding his groin in pain. "You fucking bitch, that's my dick. You never hit a man there, whore." "Lay your hands on me again I fucking dare you," Melissa responded with a smirk. Derek punched her in the face busting her lip and sending her to the ground. "I'm gonna do worse than that you fucking slut!" "What the fuck is going on here?" Lilly asked who had returned from her visit to Ruby Hill. "None of your concern, lady." "That girl is my employee and I just saw you hit her. That makes it my concern." Derek let go of Melissa and got in Lilly's face, he stood at least a foot taller than her. "Look, I don't even fucking know you. Just let me get what I want out of this bitch and I'll leave." "I've got a better idea. Get the fuck out of here and never come back." "This cunt owes me money, she doesn't have it so she's either taking my knife or my dick. I say my dick; and you can watch if you like, hell I'll let your fine ass join in." Derek said with a grin. "I asked you to leave." "Oh yeah? Make me." Derek suddenly felt a sharp pain in his groin, he looked down and saw Lilly had stabbed him with her combat knife. He cried with pain. "You f-fucking cunt you stabbed m-my dick!" Lilly smirked, and ripped the blade out Derek fell to the ground, holding his bleeding crotch. "I'm gonna die from t-this you fucking whore." Lilly shrugged. "Not my problem. Now get out of here; and if I see your ugly ass anywhere near my shop or her again I'll cut it off. You hear me?" "Y-yeah, whatever," Derek slowly stood up and stumbled away into the wasteland, he didn't dare look back. Lilly helped Melissa up. "You okay, kid?" Melissa wiped the blood from her lip. "Yeah, I've taken worse hits than that before. I've never had anyone stand up for me like that...thank you." "No worries, that guy seems like all talk anyway." "He is, don't worry about him." "What did he want from you anyway?" Melissa sighed. "He was my pimp, I ran out with some money probably a stupid thing to do, I would be dead, raped or both if it wasn't for you. First John helps me, now you? Maybe you people are what I really needed." "We help out our friends, Melissa. Now how about we grab something to eat?" Melissa smiled. "I'd like that." ---- Ivan knocked on the heavy wooden door of the big brick home, it looked to be the only home for miles. The door creaked open after a few moments, a tall Caucasian man stood at it, he had light brown hair and a growing beard, most of his long hair was kept under a blue baseball cap. "Ivan?" "Good to see you again, Jason." The two men shook hands. "Likewise. Who's this?" Jason asked, looking at John. "This is John Adams, another bounty hunter." "Ah, I'm Jason Wild. Well, come in." John and Ivan walked inside the house was cold and mostly empty only a few thing laid in the one big open room. A bed, desk, bookcase and random piles of clothes. "Some set up you got here." "It's a temporary set up." "Really, where were you gonna go?" Ivan asked. "Not sure, not staying in this dump though. I may just go back on the road." "Maybe, Ruby Hill? It's a growing town, could use a guy like you." Jason shook his head. "Ivan, you know I don't go around villages anymore." "Jason I know what happened with your old home, actually I don't, but I know you lost it. I was never a big fan of towns either, but you should-" "I said no, " Jason responded, this time with anger in his tone. "Now tell me what you want." "Alright, fine. Me and John are going on a hunt. We need some info on where the target is located. Figured you could help us." "Depends. Who's the target?" "A drug dealer named Hogan." "Hogan? That's a name I haven't heard in awhile. Yeah, I know him he's in downtown New York, has a set up in the sewer system, he calls it 'Hoganville" or some shit, the guy's got a real prick sized ego." "Downtown, eh?" John asked. "Yeah, a lot of those drug dealers are set up there, Hogan is one of the biggest around. You've never been there, John?" "About five years ago for a hunt, I don't remember much of about it though didn't have to go too far down town." "You, Ivan?" "I haven't, heard the place is a shit hole though." Jason laughed. "It's a whole new kind of shit hole one that you two will get lost in if i don't tag along." "You sure? Not sure you'll be getting paid," John said. "I've been out of practice for awhile as much as i hate it being a killer is who I am, might as well get use to it. Hogan and his clowns have gotten in my way many times before. Killing some of them would be more than enough pay." "Alright then, let's go," John said. "We're gonna have to go on foot, horses are way to risky to take into the city. So we won't be getting there until dusk. Try to keep up." ---- Back at Tara's home she was getting dressed having slept almost the whole morning. Samuel laid in the bed still taking back from the night before. "I assume you had fun?" Tara asked. Samuel smiled. "I haven't had a night like that in years. Thanks for that." "The pleasure was mine. We'll have to do it again sometime." Samuel sat up in the bed and stretched. "That'd be fine with me." Tara chuckled and sat next to Samuel resting her head on his shoulder. "I hope John will take care of that asshole for us." "Heh, don't worry about that, my dear. John is an A class bounty hunter and with the back up he'll have Hogan's head by tomorrow." "I hope so. You're not worried about him?" "As his father, yes. But as someone who knows him, no. Believe me when I say this. John Adams never fails." ---- Much later as the dusk sky began to settle over wastes. John, Jason and Ivan had finally arrived in the city. The three men stood atop one of the many old buildings looking over the landscape. "So this is the great New York?" Ivan asked. "Looks pretty much how I remember," John remarked. "Yeah, it hasn't changed much. I've heard stories about what it looked liked before. Basically like this only cleaner," Jason said. "So where's Hogan at?" John questioned. "He's not too far from here. We'll try to stick to the roof tops, but we'll have to go on the streets once we get to the sewer. You guys better be ready for anything. Hogan's crew isn't all we have to worry about down there." "What do you mean?" Ivan asked. "There's a lot of things crawling around in this city...and most of those things are going to try and kill us." To Be Continued... Credits *John Adams *Samuel Adams *Lilly *Melissa *Tara *Ivan *Derek *Jason Wild Deaths *None Trivia *First appearance of Derek. *First appearance of Jason Wild. Previous Issue: Issue 2 Next Issue: Issue 4 Category:Ashes to Ashes Category:Ashes To Ashes Issues Category:Issues Category:Ghost